Inconsistancies and Ice
by gordiesplace
Summary: A little sojourn for B&B into what some might term a science fiction and/or fantasy story. Just for fun.
1. Chapter 1

Temperance Brennan was working at her desk, finishing up some paperwork and looking forward to an after the case drink with Booth, when her cell rang.

"Brennan" she said.

"Dr. Brennan, this is Doctor Julian Hanson. I don't know if you know me, but I'm.."

"Proffessor and head of paleontology, NY University. The last I heard you were on a dig somewhere in the Northeast of the US?

"Yes, that's correct, corrently I'm involved in a situation in Western New jersey. .an unknown cave whose entrance was previously concealed, until a road building crew doing some blasting opened it up. Since some pre colombian artifacts were uncovered, work was halted and we were offered the chance to investigate. Uh...Dr. Brennan...I've come across something that I may need your help with."

"My help? What is it I can do for you Dr. Hanson." Brennan noted as she talked to him that he sounded nervous.

"I...its...well you see...ummm...during the dig we found a number of typical artifacts one normally finds in this area from native North Americans when they habitate such a cave. The artifacts date from approxamately 1300 A.D. all the way back to beyond the last Ice Age. In the process of excavations, we..uh...well...we came across some human remains. Bones...skeletons in fact..."

"That must have been exciting!" Brennan said. "Was it a burial site? The objects found in such a site often reflect the superstitions and quasi religious beliefs of.."

"It wasn't a burial site, Dr. Brennan."

"Oh" said temperance. "Accidental death then? Animal attack? Natural causes?"The latter may be more difficult to spot than the former two, but.."

"No Dr. Brennan..I don't know, I can't..its...confusing...but I think they must have been murdered. I can't see how else they got here, but...dammit...I need you to come here with your team and take a look" Hanson whispered urgently into the phone.

Brennan could tell he was even more nervous now. "What's the problem Dr. Hanson? Have you contacted the police or FBI? I can understand your fears if you uncovered a murder scene, but I'm sure the purpetratore is long gone. Usually the cases we handle go through the proper channels so as to establish jurisdiction."

"NO! Its...I didn't, I can't! Dr. Brennan...there's something so strange about this...I didn't want clumsy local police polluting the site...its YOU that has to see this...you're the best...you and your team...you have to see this, because quite frankly...I just can't see how...I mean...I don't know how it can be...but...I mean...HOW can it be? I just don't understand HOW it can be!"

Hanson's fear and confusion radiated through the phone, and the hairs on her neck stirred as Brennan listened to his last few sentences.

"Dr. Hanson...what is this all about?"

"I can't!...I can't say over the phone. This is beyond me Dr. Brennan...I'll be honest when i say this confuses and yes, even frightens me. You have to come, Dr. Brennan... You HAVE to come! Please Dr. brennan, you're the best...maybe you can make sense of this, because quite frankly, I'm at a loss. It makes no sense to me at all, but maybe your team can find clues that I'm missing. Please Dr. brennan, I need your help. Can you please come? As soon as you can? Please?"

Brennan was silent a moment, then nodded and said, "Yes, Dr. Hanson, we'll be there tomorrow."

"You promise?" Hanson asked.

"Yes, Dr. Hanson, email me directions to the site and I promise, we'll be there."

"Ok..ok then...I'll do that. I'll send those now, and thank you Dr. Brennan, thank you. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Hanson sent the directions, then broke the connection.

Brennan held her phone, lost in thought, then dialed Booth's number.

"Booth? Brennan here. We're going to Western New Jersey tomorrow. Yes, a case. Pick me up at the jeffersonian at 6am."  
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Booth yawned hugely as he drove along what was obviously newly constructed and as yet unpaved road. He sipped on an even huger cup of takeout coffee as they drove. "Why so damn early Bones? If what you tell me is right, those skeletons have probably been there a long time. Did I really have to wake up at 5 in the morning to see something that's been laying there for God knows how long?"

"It not that Booth. Maybe they have been and maybe they haven't. But I'm anxious to take a look at whatever Dr. Hanson has discovered. He was quite shaken by whatever it was. There must be something very unusual about the skeletons or the site itself that made him so nervous and cautious."

"Maybe he doesn't have enough experience. I mean, just working with you I've seen some pretty bizarre things."

"He's very experienced, Booth. I know if his reputation and work. He's not brilliant, certainly not as brilliant as I am, but he's meticulous, thorough, and very knowlegable about his field of study. No, something's very wrong. What it is, mystifies me. He'd know if those bodies were buried there recently. I just can't fathom why he's so agitated."

"I guess we'll find out soon , Bones, we're here." Booth said, coming to the end of the road and parking the SUV and then getting out, stretching and yawning hugely again.

The road was being blasted through a low rise sandwiched between high hills on either side. It ended abruptly, in mounds of rubble, hapahazardly parked construction vehicles, and the low, dark entrance to the cave in question.

A tall, gangly man about 45 ran up, and as Brennan exited the vehicle, he grabbed her hand and shook it furiously in welcome. "Dr Brennan! Julian Hanson! I'm so glad you came!"

"Yes, WE'RE here..I'm Special agent Booth. " Booth said grumpily, flashing his ID. "Now, can we get the intros over with and get on to whatever is so important?"

"Yes, YES! Of course, follow me. Put these on, safety first", Hanson said, as he handed hard hats to both of them. he spoke as they walked toward the cave.

"When the site was discovered, we were called in and started to excavate. It was an interesting though unremarkable find. We were very thorough and careful in any case, and as is usual, carefully cataloged and dated everything we found as we went along."

"If its so unremarkable, why are we here?" Booth said, still a tad grumpy.

"You'll see. You'll see.." Hanson said, nervously chewing on his lower lip. "There they are, Dr. Brennan. Can you take a look, at everything...and tell me what YOU think?"

Two partially uncovered skeletons lay side by side at the bottom of the dig, well inside the cave.

Brennan slipped into her usual routine, scanning the skeletons with her eyes and a flashlight without touching them and reciting her findings as she did. "Two sets of remains. One larger than the other. From the delicacy of the smaller skull's features, first impressions would lend it to be female. The male looks to be in his late 60's at the time of death. No visible signs of trauma or violence that I can see at the moment. Although there are a few signs of healed wounds, and one finger on the right hand seems to have been dislocated and improperly set, though it did heal, so happened well before time of death.

The female appears to be in her mid to late 20's. No fractures or wounds that I can see. Dr. Hanson, a trowel and brush please?"

Hanson quicklt produced both for Brennan, and she very carefully scrapped and brushed dirt away from the midsection area of the smaller skeleton. Brennan was silent for a moment, then said, "She died in childbirth. There's an undelivered fetus low in her abdomanal area.."

"Poor thing,"Booth said, and shook his head sadly. " What a horrible way to go. But that's the way it was back then."

Hanson just looked at Booth with a very strange expression.

Brennan turned to Hanson and said, "Is this why you brought me here? You could have ascertained all of this yourself without my help. I fail to understand..."

"No, you DON'T understand yet Dr. Brennan!" Hanson said in a kind of dispair. "This cave was sealed by natural forces no later than the 1300 AD! Its been sealed up ever since, the achealogical record proves it!  
"The level these skeletons are at in the strata of this cave puts them here no earlier than the the middle of the last Ice Age! We dated and checked, and even carbon dated everything as we went along. Dr. Brennan, they were found here like they belong here...but they can't be here, because they DON'T belong here. And yet they WERE here, 15,000 years ago! Nothing was disturbed, or buried, or dug up, until WE came along!"

Brennan looked at Hanson quizzically. "Dr. Hanson, you're talking jibberish."

Hanson answered earnestly, "When we first got here, we were careful to note the conditions in and around the cave. It was undisturbed. The floor of the cave was pristine and untouched for a very long time. Nothing...no human or animal, has been in this cave for over 800 years, maybe longer.! Look at them Dr. Brennan. Look at them closely! Look at his other hand, his left hand. Look at HER hand! And take a closer look at their mouths. Dr. Brennan!"

Brennan frowned, then turned to take a closer look, and saying a little testilly, "Fine, but are you sure they've been here this long?

Booth said to the figiting man beside him, "Y'know, Hanson, she is the best in the world at this, I don't think you should try to order her to..."

Booth stopped, the words frozen in his throat, as he heard Brennan say, "Jesus...how can this be?"

Booth got gooseflesh, never having heard such words or the tone of confusion from Brennan before. "What is it Bones?"

"The soil around them...I'd have to confer with Hodgins, but I've seen enough archeological sites to know its been undisturbed for centuries, maybe millenia...the condition of the bones...the color, the mineral stains from the ground around them...consistant with burial in these conditions for the length of time Dr. Hanson discribes...but they can't be here..."

Brennan played her flashlight around the area, and then back on the remains."And yet thay are!"

"So?" Booth asked. "So what? So you found a couple of cave people that died in a cave...so what?"

"Booth, they're wearing rings..."

"So? Can't cavemen wear rings? They probably made them from shells or bones, so what?"

"They're not made of bone Booth... But that's not all." Brennan said, as she gently pried open a jaw and looked closely.

"Not all? What not all?" Booth asked.

"Its their teeth, Booth. Jesus, their teeth..." She turned to Booth, her eyes large. Both's goosflesh increased...a chill stole through him. What the hell was going on?

"Explain this to me, Booth. How can obviously ancient, SCIENTIFICALLY proven ancient skeletons, PROVEN to have lain here from the time of the last ice age, be wearing GOLD rings, and..." Brennan shook her head like she was trying to clear it.

"And what?" Booth asked quietly.

"And have FILLINGS in their teeth Booth! These are accurately dated, 15,000 year old skeletons, that have MODERN dental work in their mouths! 


	2. Chapter 2

Brennan immediately went into action. "Dr. Hanson, this is my investigation now. . I don't want ANYONE but but my team within 10 meters of these remains. Booth, you get some of your police tape and cordon off this area" She waved her hand around and then down at the remains at her feet as she continued speaking. "NO ONE gets near these, understood? I need Hodgins and Angela and the rest here immediately."

She flipped open her cell, and growled softly under her breath when she realized the cave was cutting off her reception. "Booth! Dr. Hanson! Don't let ANYONE near those remains." She was striding purposefully past him when Booth caught her arm and guided her aside.

He spoke softly but urgently. "Bones! You can't just take this to be an archeological mystery. If those are what they appear to be, MODERN humans, I have to consider this a crime scene! One that I or the FBI may have no jurisdiction over. I have to notify the local authorities!"

"Booth, you don't understand. This IS an archeological mystery! Those remains back there appear to have rested there for 15,000 years. Every sign and clue I could think of on and around them says they've lain there undisturbed that whole time!"

"But Bones, you know that's must be some sort of hoax. Some prank by someone. Maybe college students. Like how they put a car on a roof of the university and no one knows how they did it."

"Booth, I agree with you, however, I have a trained eye not only for bones but for other areas of related study.I'm a forensic anthropologist remember ,I've been on many many digs, I've seen many many human remains in many different states of preservation in all kinds of environments, and I'm telling you, whoever did this and how ever it was done is beyond anything in my experience. Every sign that I can see with my highly trained senses and all my experience says those are modern skeletons, 20th or 21st century,of that there can be no doubt! Yet they appear to be ones that have lain there since the ice age! I HAVE to ascertain how this was done! It might rank among the finest hoaxes ever! "

"But Bones, why would anyone go to such trouble? To what end? I'm sorry, I have to alert the local authorities about this."

"And have some forth rate country hick M. his flunkies up here with back hoes and pick axes? Scattering what they don't understand under their clumsy uneducated boots? Booth, you don't seem to realize the importance of this! If this isn't studied properly who knows how a technique like this might be used to mask murders or other crimes? If its not documented and studied, we may never know how this was done!"

Booth chewed his lips thoughtfully for a few moments, then he looked over at Dr. Hanson. "Hey! Have you told anyone about this?"

"Well, only ones that know are a few members of my team,maybe five people, that happened to be with me at the time we discovered these." He said nervously, pointing at the skeletons. "We and you two are the only ones that know about these bones and their...uh...special features. I didn't WANT to tell anyone else but Dr. Brennan.I didn't want to look like a fool..."

"Round them up, everyone that knows about this!" Booth said firmly. " I want their names and I want them here NOW! We have to keep a lid on this, they can't tell anyone! Go get them Dr. Hanson, before they alert half the country!"

As Hanson scampered out, Booth said urgently to Brennan,"Its probably too late anyway. People can't seem to keep something like this to themselves. I give things maybe 48 hours before trouble starts over this. I'd bet most of the details have been cellphoned to wives and girlfriends and relatives and colleagues by those 5 people. . Its only a matter of time before this gets back to the locals and then they'll step in, and there's nothing I can do unless this can be proved somehow to be a federal case. You round up who and what you need Bones, and you better get busy fast. We'll plead ignorance right up till the locals walk into this cave. Until that time, I'll work on getting jurisdiction and make sure no one but you and those you want there get anywhere near Bones, make that call!"

Brennan nodded and left the cave,punched in a number, then said, "Hodgins! Brennan here. Gather everyone you can, I'll text you the directions and what materials and gear and personnel we'll need for this dig. Well, its an investigation but we have to treat it as both a dig and an investigation of possible foul play. . I want you here personally, there's going to be a lot of samples to be taken and I want NO mistakes! We have to hurry, time is of the essence,you must all come now, and expect a stay of at least a few days, maybe longer."

Hodgins replied, "Gosh Dr. Brennan, what's this all about?"

Brennan's brows knit. "I'm not sure Jack. Its puzzling, certainly. It may be a simple murder scene, or the scene of an accident. It may be a hoax. If it is, from what I've seen so far, it could very well be the hoax of the decade. Or..." she hesitated.

"Or what, Dr. Brennan?"

"Or...come quickly Jack, we're working against time. This is something we have to scrutinize with all our skill...because if we don't solve this, it could be a mystery for the ages... 


	3. Chapter 3

Booth drove, his vehicle part of an Army convoy now. His vehicle was second to last in the group, and being followed closely by a huge army truck, loaded with was silent and thoughtful.

Finally he spoke. "Unusual."

Brennan looked over at him. "What is?"

Booth glanced over at her, then back at the road. He mulled over his thoughts for a few moments, then said, "I dallied a little in leaving, making sure we were the last of our group to leave. I watched in the mirror as we left...The entire company of troops that forced us out of the dig site. They left with us."

"Why is that unusual Booth? What's so unusual about that?"

"Normally, when the army, or any military force really, takes over an area, they guard it. They establish a perimeter, post guards around it, and within it. But these guys...they didn't."

"What does that mean Booth? Why would they do something like that?"

Booth mulled some more. "Its like they..." Booth grimaced, like he was tasting something he didn't like. "Its like they...not so much took over the area, as..."

"As?" Brennan asked.

"As they...well, not so much took over the area...as evacuated it."

Booth shook his head. It made no sense. The group of soldiers and their actions made no sense. The dig site made no sense. Nothing was making sense!

"We're getting close to their temporary headquarters I think. Only a couple kilometers more. A kilometer or so back, two of the trucks pulled over. I think they're gonna set up a roadblock."

"So?" Brennan asked.

Booth was still thinking. "They pulled off onto the shoulder of the road. One behind the other. Inexperienced maybe. They shoulda just blocked the road with the trucks. Maybe they're gonna offload the troops first and then do it. Wasted time. Unnecessary." Booth was alertly scanning ahead of him. "There's still time."

"Time for what Booth?"

"To go back and take a quick look around."

"For what? There's nothing worthwhile there now. Its all been removed."

"Maybe there's something there that will be a clue, even if we only see it for a 's some reason they want us out of there. We can say that we forgot something, or wanted to go back and look for it, whatever, but we have to do this now." Booth was sitting straight in his seat now, gazing intently ahead of them. "We're almost there. We can do it..."

"Do what?" Brennan asked

"What a ten ton, 20 foot, fully loaded troop transport truck can't do on a narrow road like this...a U-turn!"

Just ahead, a side road intersected with the road they were on, coming in at almost a 90 degree angle to it. Because of this, the road was briefly just about wide enough for the maneuver Booth had planned. By the time he had done it, the heavy truck behind them would overshoot it, and have to take time to stop, back up, turn around...they'd be well ahead of it, and possibly, if luck was with them, able to blow by the impending road block before they could react to a radioed warning.

"NOW!" Booth called, as he wrenched the wheel over and stomped on the gas. His relatively heavy SUV made a fishtailing, accelerating U-turn that would have done a rally car proud. Brennan had involuntarily closed her eyes for a second, when she opened them, they were racing quickly in the other direction.

"Better get ready to hunker down, I have a feeling they might take some shots at is as we go by. IF we can get by." Booth said calmly.

They came around a corner at a high rate of speed. One truck was blocking part of the road. The other was still parked on the shoulder. "They're slow" Booth muttered. "Bad work. Someone'll get a reprimand for this." He accelerated, aiming for the clear section of road..

Four soldiers, standing in the gap not covered by the truck, stared dumbly at the quickly approaching SUV, then dove for their lives when they realized it wasn't going to stop. Not one of them even so much un-shouldered their rifle.

"Caught them by surprise, lucky." Booth said. "It'll take them forever to get those big trucks turned around.I got an idea the truck that was behind us will run into a clusterf*ck with those two other trucks attempting to turn as they all try to get back here. We'll be well ahead of them all. We should have a good 15 to 20 minutes to take a look around, maybe more. .Lets hope we see or find something. Guess we'll worry about the firing squad later." Booth didn't even smile as he stomped on the gas, expertly driving over the narrow rough road.

Brennan looked over at him, alarmed, breathless, a little frightened, and more than a little turned on. This was all very exciting stuff. The way Booth handled that whole maneuver, the way he was handling the vehicle now...the surety of everything he did...Brennan had to shake her head and get back to herself. They had some serious investigating to do, and very little time to do it in.

They rounded one of the last corners before they came to a long straight stretch of road. It was the last one before the road took one last corner, and then ended at the dig site. Booth rounded into the straightaway, flooerd the gas pedal again, and said, "We'll make up a lot of time here, those trucks only have a top speed of...hey...what the hell?" He squinted into the distance ahead of them.

"Brennan followed his gaze, and squinted too. "Is that a...fog bank?"

Booth said, "I dunno...kind of looks like one, but not...maybe smoke? Maybe the troops set light to something... or its...is it glowing?"

Ahead of them, the long straight stretch of road receded into the distance, and then disappeared into the...fog, smoke, whatever it was. In fact, they couldn't see anything beyond it. It was like a tenuous curtain had been pulled down in front of them...no...not a curtain, Booth thought. More of a huge semicircle he saw now. To the extreme left and right of them, normal landscapes could be seen. This seemed to him to be like driving toward a tunnel...a big, shimmering, smoky tunnel.

He shook his head and stayed on the gas. It was just a fire somewhere, making smoke that was being blown in their direction, that was all. In any case, they were almost into it, no turning back now. Booth wasn't going to stop for some smoke. "Here it comes." Booth thought, and eased up on the gas as they entered, instinctive caution taking over. In all likelihood, that caution saved their lives.

Once they hit the "smoke" it thickened quickly...and..."Christ, it IS glowing!" Booth blurted. "We must be right on top of the fire!" Booth hit the brakes, the SUV slowed, but not quickly enough. Suddenly the SUV rocked and shuddered and the world went white.

They were still now. Brennan gripped the dashboard, her eyes closed. She slowly opened them. Whatever just happened, it wasn't severe enough to trigger the airbag ahead of her. "Lucky" Brennan thought as she looked at her position. Arms straight, hands planted on the dashboard. Both her arms could have been broken. The SUV was even still running, so it wasn't a bad accident. She was still checking herself over when she heard Booth 's voice, sounding shaken and confused, say, "What the helllllllll?" 


End file.
